by Elise Marie

Created on: August 20, 2009   Last Updated: September 03, 2009

When many of us get sick with the common cold or flu we tend to run out to the pharmacy and grab an over the counter cold or flu medicine to help relieve some of the discomforts that cold or flu can bring along with it. However, one of the best ways to fight a common cold or flu would be to simply take an herbal supplement Echinacea or drink an herbal tea with echinacea in it.

Echinacea is an herb that helps enhance your body's immune system so it can help heal your body and fight of the cold or flu that you have faster naturally. It is also a Native American medicinal plant that looks like a pink purplish flower that has a cone like center and a very long stem. The Native American Echinacea plant is used as herbal supplements, teas, creams, vitamin supplements, and tinctures to help keep the immune system strong and healthy so it can fight of the cold and flu and possibly even help you keep it away during the cold and flu seasons.

The reason Echinacea is used to help heal the body from the common cold or flu would be because it has very natural active chemical compounds inside it that have very soothing effects on the immune system such as polysaccharides, glycoproteins, alkamides, volatile oils, and flavonoids. These active chemicals inside Echinacea make Echinacea a great medicinal plant to use for healing bacterial and viral infections, respitory infections, skin infection, inflammation inside and outside the body, and can be used as a cream to help speed the healing of opened wounds such as cuts, scrapes, and burns.

Some of the very best Echinacea herbal supplements to take to help fight the common cold or flu would be Thompson Echinacea Purpurea, NSI Echinacea, Natrol Echinacea, Nature's Way Echinacea, Gaia Herbs Echinacea Supreme, and Nature's Answer Echinacea. All of these herbal supplements come in liquid, gel cap, tablet, and chewable forms and they all cost between one and seven dollars. You can purchase all these wonderful herbal supplements at www.vitacost.com, www.drugstore.com, and at any of your local health food, drug, and grocery stores.

Now some of the very best Echinacea herbal teas you could drink to help prevent or treat the common cold or flu would be Traditional Medicinals Organic Echinacea Plus Herbal Tea, Yogi Tea Echinacea Immune Support, Alvita Echinacea, and Celestial Seasonings Echinacea Complete Care Wellness Tea. All these teas have a nice soothing aroma and soothing taste to them that will help make it easier to drink when you have to cold or flu. All the herbal teas I have just mentioned above can be found in the same places you can find the herbal supplements we just talked about above except the teas come in boxes of 16 to 20 tea bags per box and they can cost between two and five dollars depending on what Echinacea herbal tea brand you get.

Whatever form of Echinacea you take whether it be in an herbal tea or supplement I hope it helps you feel better faster. One more thing before I end this article is I hope all of you talk to your doctors before taking any kind of Echinacea herbal supplements or teas to make sure it is safe for you, and if it is take it soon so you can get well soon!

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